Wagon end-gate.



L. L. AMSPAGKER WAGON END GATE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED my 2, 1913.

Patented Apr. 21, 191i Inventor LZJ W.

Witnesses Attorneys LEMMET L. AMSIACKER, 0F GLASCO, KANSAS.

WAGON END-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented A151-.'21, 1914.

Application filed May 2, 1913. Serial No. 765,160.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEMMET L. AMs-' PAOKER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Glasco, in the county of Cloud and State of Kansas,have invented a new and useful Wagon End-Grate, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in end gates for vehicles andmore particularly to an end gate comprising two sections, either one ofwhich'may be removed independent of the other.

An object of the present invention is to provide an end gate comprisingtwo independent sections either one of which may be removed independentof the other and which when rigidly secured in position ispractically'liquid tight.

A further object is to provide an end gate comprising two independentsections and to form the lower one thereof of two parts.

hingedly secured together, whereby the lower end gate may be withdrawnlongitudinally from the wagon body without disturbing the upper end gateand to furthermore so form the upper end gate that it will when inposition tend to hold the side boards of the wagon body in proper spacedrelation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a partthereof, the preferable formof my invention is illustrated, in whichFigure 1 is a rear View in elevation of my improved end gate as securedto a wagon body. Fig. '2 is a top view thereof with portions thereofremoved. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view more clearlyillustrating the toggle joint latch.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 is a vehicle body ofany improved construction and includes the upstanding side boards 2,between which side boards extend the upper and lower end gates 3 andformed of the two portions :5 and 6"hingedly secured together as "at7,,the said hinge extending transversely of the end gate near the centerthereof and" when the said end gate is in position as illustrated inFig. l, the-l1inge 7 wil1 lie substantially Vertical, from which it willbe apparent that as the hinge 7 is rigidly secured to the back face ofthe two portions or sections, the end ate may fold with the centralportion exten ing outwardly to thereby draw the extreme ends of thesections 5 and 6 together with the result that they will becomedisengaged from the spaced guide members 8 which are rigidly secured tothe side boards 2 and extend transversely thereof. The extreme ends ofthe sections of the lower end gate are rounded as at 9 sothat the samemay enter between the spaced guide members 8 and may have forced contactwith the side boards 2 to thereby insure a practically liquid-tightjoint therewith. In order to limit the inward movement of the twosections 5 and 6 about the hinge v7, the locking plate 10 is rigidlysecured to the end gate 4 and projects therebeyond totthereby overlapthe section 6 which section is provided with a latch 11 adaptedtofrotate about the shaft 12 which threadedly engages a suitable nut 13which is embeddedin the said section. The lockingnplate 10 is providedat the overlapping endldwithia slot 15 which is adapted to. pass 'overthe latch member 11 when the same is in one position and is adapted tobe'engaged by the said latch member when i it is rotated from the saidposition through substantially 90 degrees, the latter position beingillustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. From, the foregoing it will beapparent that the locking plate by contact- 4 respectively. lower endgate 1 is mg with one section and being rigidly sethe inserting of theupper end gate and which is further adapted to provide means whereby theside boards of the vehicle body may be held in spaced relation when thesaid end gate is in its final seated position.

Rigidly secured to and extending transversely of the side boards 2 andpositioned above and in alinement with the guide members 8 are themetallic guide plates 18, the

, extreme edges 19 of which are bent inward the wagon side boards,through the metallic guide plates 18, and engaging the said strip tothereby bring the same into forced contact with the outstanding lip 17of the metallic plate 16. The width of the strip 20 i allows the same toextend between the inwardly extending flanges 19 and to contact at itsother edge with the metallic plate 16 and to exert a slight wedgingaction thereon, it being noted that as illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, the said strip is arranged at a slight angle with respect tothe guide plate 18. Each of the wagon side boards are provided with thesaid guide plates and wing bolts as described and thereby are adapted toengage the upper end gate 8 and to hold the same in a. rigid manner andalso prevent spreading of the side boards of the wagon such as wouldoccur if an excessive pressure is brought to bear thereon. \Vhen it isdesired to'remove the end gate 3 the wing bolts 21 are loosened and theend gate may be then moved upwardly and to thereby draw'the lip 17 frombetween the strip 20 and guide plate 18 which is otherwise heldtherebetween.

The end gate 3 may be forced down against the lower end gate and is heldrigidly in that position. The toggle joint latch member 22 is providedand comprises a base plate 23 rigidly secured to the upper gate 3 andextending across the upper edge thereof. The base plate 23 is providedwith the outstanding bifurcated lug 24 rigidly secured to which is thecurved latch 25. Pivot-ally secured to the curved-latch 25 is theU-shaped member 26 the curved portion of which is provided with thethreaded aperture 27 extending therethrough to which is threadedlysecured the bolt 28. Rigidly secured to the bottom of the vehicle is thehooked member 29 which is detachably engaged by the link 30 extendingtherebetween and secured to the bolt 28, it being noted that the lowerextremity of the link 30 is provided with a suitable eye 31 which isadapted to fit over and engage the hooked member 29 substantially asillustrated.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the tension exerted by thetoggle joint latch member may be varied by turning the bolt 28 andtherefore the pressure which will be exerted upon the upper end gate 3forcing the same into contact with the upper extremity of the lower endgate, which will in turn exert a pressure between the lower portion ofthe lower end gate and the wagon base, which may be varied according towhether liquid-tight .joints between the end gates and wagon body is oris not desired. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the bolt 28 and the link 30are adapted to contact with the locking plate 10 of the lowerend gateand to exert a suit-able inward pressure thereon which will thereby tendto relieve the tensional stress from the latch 11.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the upper end gate may beremoved by first disengaging the toggle joint latch member and thenloosening the wing bolts 2]. The upper end gate may then be drawnupwardly and out of disengagement with the guide members and strip 20.When the two end gates are locked in position, the lower gate may beremoved without disturbing the upper end gate by first disengaging thetoggle joint latch member to thereby remove the link 30 and bolt 28 fromin front of the locking plate 10. The latch 11 is then retated about itsaxis until it comes into alinement with the slot 15 which allows thesaid locking plate to move outwardly and the two hingedly securedsections 5 and 6 of the lower end gate to collapse which will draw theirextreme ends inward and disengage the same from the spaced guide members8. It is to be noted that when the lower end gate is in position it willexert a slight stress upon the side boards, tending to push the sameoutwardly and which is taken up by the upper end ate, to thereby rovidea liquid-tight joint 'etween the si e boards and the end gate should itbe so desired.

The toggle joint may be adjusted as described to exert a varyingpressure upon the end gate forcing the same against the bottom of thewagon body and hold the end gate securely in position.

The many advantages of a construction such as I have described will beclearly apparent, among which may be mentioned the mutual independenceof the two end gates and the fact that there are no rods and bolts withnuts thereon to be removed every time the end gates are to be detachedfrom the wagon.

Having thus fully described the invention what I claim to be new andoriginal with me is 1. Holding means for a wagon end gate comprisingplates rigidly secured to the side edges of the end gate and providedwith outwardly struck lips, guide plates rigidly secured to the sideboards of the vehicle and provided with inwardly bent retaining flanges,strips fitting between'the end gate plates contacting with the retainingflanges of the guide plates, and means extending through the vehicleside walls engaging the said strips and adapted to force the same intowedged contact with the guide plate retaining flanges to thereby forcethe said end gate into forced contact with the remote retaining flangeofthe uide plates, to thereby draw the vehicle si e boards into forcedcontact with the end gate.

2. The combination with a vehicle body- With side boards, of an end gatewith metallic plates rigidly secured to the ends thereof, said metal icplates provided with outstanding lips, metallic guide plates rigidlysecured to the body side boards and provided with inwardly extendingside flan es, a strip, wing bolts extending through t e vehicle sideboards, throu h the said metallic guide plates and threat? strip, saidstrip forming a guide durmg the insertion of t e said end gate saidstrip wedgedly engaging the said en gate plate edly engaging said andone of the said guide plate flanges and adapted to en age the end gateplate lips to thereby hold the said end g'ate'in rigid position and tohold the said vehicle side boards in spaced relation.

standmg l ps thereof and contacting with the outstanding flanges of thebody side board plates, and means engaging the body side ,boards and thesaid strips arranged to force the said strips into we ged engagementwith the said lips and flanges, to hold a the end gate in rigidposition.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

A. On A. B. l ELP.

